Chapter 12: The Awkward "Mr. Shi"
In 2006, in the "China Kung Fu Star Global Television Competition" draft jointly organized by Shaolin Temple and Shenzhen Satellite TV, Shi Xiaohu, who looked exactly like Shi Xiaolong, easily broke into the top 36 and won the only "Best Popularity Award" in the entire draft with an advantage of more than 10,000 votes higher than the first place.
Is Shi Xiaohu the second son of Chen Tongshan? Many people have developed a strong interest in Shi Xiaohu's life. Chen Tongshan also had to explain to people again and again: Shi Xiaohu was the son of deputy head coach Liu Xiu, and his scientific name was Liu Zhendong. Despite this, few people noticed the faint sourness on Chen Tongshan's face when he answered this question.
More Shi Xiaolong fans directly questioned Shi Xiaohu's age: Shi Xiaohu should be a year older than Shi Xiaolong, how could he be the youngest of the "Chinese Kung Fu Star" contestants? The "Chinese Kung Fu Star" draft requires contestants to be over 18 years old, and in 2006, Shi Xiaolong was 18 years old and Shi Xiaohu should be 19 years old.
Release the little tiger
Wang Yingui, head of the propaganda section of the Xiaolong Wuyuan of the Shaolin Temple, knew that Shi Xiaohu was indeed only 16 years old. When he first signed up, he made a good claim to report two more years for Shi Xiaohu. After the organizing committee of the "Chinese Kung Fu Star" competition later learned the true age of Shi Xiaohu, it had to use the vague phrase "the youngest contestant" to describe the handsome and sunny Shi Xiaohu.
Liu Zhendong's ID card is in black and white, which is exact. But questioning one party's self-insistence was not convinced. Chen Tongshan wanted to talk and stopped, and seemed to have other hidden feelings. More people who care about Shaolin martial arts have wondered if there is someone else to "Shi Xiaohu".
In fact, before Liu Zhendong, there was indeed a person who used the stage name "Shi Xiaohu". It's just that the name of the "Shi Xiaohu" did not ring out, and the stage name that the "Shi Xiaohu" used in public was "Shi Xiaobao". Shi Xiaobao is a year older than Shi Xiaolong, and together with Shi Xiaolong, Liu Zhendong, and Chen Tongchuan's son, Shi Xiaobao, are all lay disciples of Shi Yongxin, the abbot of the Shaolin Temple. In September 1997, Shi Xiaobao (formerly known as Zhao Pengfei) filmed his first film, Ninja Soldier, and in June 1998, Shi Xiaobao participated in the 24-episode TV series Shaolin Blood Zen created by the Shaolin Temple monk Shi Yanwang.
Shi Xiaobao (left) and Shi Xiaolong
Shi Xiaobao's story reflects Chen Tongshan's character and heart from one side.
Li Dongze, the abbot of the Anyang Dongze Wuyuan, whose original name was Li Yongjun, was the first disciple of Chen Tongshan after he went to the Shaolin Temple Martial School. Shi Xiaobao (i.e., Zhao Pengfei) was first discovered by him and recommended to Chen Tongshan.
Zhao Pengfei's discovery process is similar to that of the founder of the Shaolin Temple, Bata, who discovered Hui Guang.
As we all know, when Master Bhadra went to Luoyang, he stumbled upon 12-year-old Hui Guang on a street called "Tianjie". Hui Guang kicked the shuttlecock on the well railing of Tianjie Street, attracting everyone to watch. The well fence is narrow and has little place to stand, and there is a danger of falling into the well if you are not careful. The 12-year-old Hui Guangren was timid, and actually kicked the shuttlecock 500 times in one breath, and the crowd applauded. Bhagavad Gita thought that Hui Guang's footwork was so skilled, he must have amazing perseverance and a spirit of hardship, and if he studied Buddhism, he would achieve positive results, and then persuaded Hui Guang's family to shave him as a Shaolin disciple. Under the careful teaching of Bhadra, Hui Guang eventually became a generation of Vinaya masters.
In 1996, when Li Yongjun founded his own martial arts school in his hometown, he occasionally found that Zhao Pengfei was also surprised by Zhao Pengfei's stunts. "Zhao Pengfei looks like a tiger with a tiger's head and a cute attitude." Probably due to the reason of practicing in the troupe since childhood, 9-year-old Zhao Pengfei's backflip is very beautiful, and he can flip dozens of them in one breath. I liked him at first sight and thought he was a good seedling. At that time, Li Yongjun's martial arts school was just getting started, and Shi Xiaolong had already shot several of Taiwan's highest-grossing films such as "Laughing Forest Boy", "New Oolong Temple" and "Chinese Dragon", which became the supporter of the Taiwan box office. Li Yongjun knew that he did not have the ability to create more opportunities for Zhao Pengfei, and he remembered his mentor Chen Tongshan.
"As soon as I heard Li Yongjun say it, I was immediately excited, and at that time, there was really an excitement like Bhagavad Gita's encounter with Hui Guang. After Li Yongjun brought the child, I strengthened my determination to cultivate him. Chen Tongshan likes Zhao Pengfei, in addition to Zhao Pengfei's agile skills and innocent face, there is also a long-hidden selfishness: cultivating the second Shi Xiaolong.
After Zhao Peng flew to the Shaolin Temple Martial Arts School, Chen Tongshan took him as a righteous son. Shi Xiaolong went out to shoot and practice, and whenever possible, Chen Tongshan always arranged for Zhao Pengfei to accompany him. Eating, dressing, and staying in a hotel, Zhao Pengfei enjoyed exactly the same treatment as Shi Xiaolong. In Chen Tongshan's home, his wife Yuan Xiangyun always arranged meals according to Zhao Pengfei's preferences, and the instructors of the Shaolin Temple Martial Arts School also cared about Zhao Pengfei everywhere as they did to Shi Xiaolong. Chen Tongshan's eldest disciple at the Shaolin Temple Martial Arts School, Liu Xiu, always took Zhao Pengfei down to the pavilion whenever he had time.
Of course, Chen Tongshan affectionately called Zhao Pengfei "Xiao Bao", also in order to find a companion for Xiaolong, to increase Xiaolong's childhood happiness and interest in practicing martial arts.
(When Zong Yougui, president of the Japanese Shaolin Boxing Federation, visited the Shaolin Temple, he made a special trip to visit Shi Xiaolong at the Shaolin Temple Martial Arts School, and Chen Tongshan arranged for Shi Xiaobao to meet with Zong Yougui.) ）
Shi Xiaobao joined the Shaolin Temple Martial Monastic Order
There is a popular saying in Hong Kong and Taiwan: "A movie that has not been made by Zhu Yanping is not a big star." Zhu Yanping is the director of many of Shi Xiaolong's blockbuster films and has an extremely close relationship with Chen Tongshan. In 1997, Shi Xiaolong was unable to star in Zhu Yanping's film Adaptation of the Japanese best-selling manga "Ninja Soldier" due to the simultaneous production of two films ("Rogue Story" and "The Tale of the Outer Court"). Under the strong recommendation of Chen Tongshan, "Ninja Soldier" was finally co-starred by Shi Xiaobao and "Million Golden Boy" Hao Shaowen. Wu Mengda, Weng Hong, Huang Yifei, and Liu Xun, who played Shi Xiaobao in "Ninja Soldier", are all the backbone of Shi Xiaolong's team, and the martial arts instructor is the famous Ma Yucheng.
After the release of "Ninja Soldier", although there was no "Chinese Dragon" and "Dragon in Shaolin" by Shi Xiaolong, it was a film produced by a first-class team after all, which is still a very high starting point for Shi Xiaobao, who has never made a movie.
Just when the second "Shaolin Child Star" was about to take off, a sudden change caused all of Chen Tongshan's efforts to be in vain.
In order to allow Shi Xiaobao to quickly become popular with the help of the fame and influence of "the first child star in Chinese" Shi Xiaolong, Chen Tongshan decided to let Shi Xiaobao use the name "Shi Xiaohu", which is closer to "Shi Xiaolong". He did not know that at this time, Shi Xiaobao had become more interested in martial arts performances, and at the same time, the abbot of the Shaolin Temple, Shi Yongxin, also liked this child.
Shi Yongxin and Chen Tongshan have a deep friendship and are Shi Xiaolong's master. Chen Tongshan knew that the master had worked tirelessly for many years to promote Shaolin martial arts. In terms of developing and promoting the Dharma, it is even more lofty. Yongxin believes that the sinification of Buddhism has made it part of the national culture, and the global tour of the Shaolin Temple Martial Monks is to promote the Chinese national culture with the help of Shaolin martial arts. Faced with the invitation of the master and the strong demands of Shi Xiaobao himself and his family, Chen Tongshan realized that compared with cultivating film and television stars, Shi Xiaobao's performance abroad with the abbot was more valuable. Thinking about it, he finally endured the pain and sent Shi Xiaobao to the Shaolin Temple.
Shi Yongxin and Chen Tongshan
From the acceptance of Xiaobao as a righteous son to the time when Shi Xiaobao joined the Shaolin Temple Martial Monks, there were more than 3 years in between, and in 3 years, Chen Tongshan and his wife poured the same parental love for Shi Xiaobao as they did for Shi Xiaolong. Once separated, pain and bitterness made Chen Tongshan difficult to extricate himself, and the painstaking cultivation and efforts of the past 3 years instantly disappeared, and Chen Tongshan was painfully determined.
Chen Tongshan is rational, and he knows that when deciding a person's fate, the parties have the most say. Without Shi Xiaobao, Chen Tongshan had a broader vision and a broader mind for Shi Xiaolong's life path. In 2008, Shi Xiaolong was about to return to China, and Chen Tongshan adopted a more flexible approach to whether Shi Xiaolong would continue his acting career, saying, "Xiaolong wants to continue to be an actor, I will support him, if he does not want to make a movie, I also understand him and support him." ”
In the final analysis, the influence of the "Shi Xiaobao Incident" on Chen Tongshan is only the bitterness and regret of the "small self", and for Mahayana Buddhism, it is precisely a great merit: Buddhism emphasizes the equality of all sentient beings, and promoting The Dharma is related to the rejuvenation of national culture, chen Tongshan knows that compared with Master Yongxin, his ideological realm is still a little worse.
As Shi Xiaolong's father, Chen Tongshan had the opportunity to contact higher-level social elites and elites. After the release of Xiaobao, Chen Tongshan successively recommended more than 20 people from the school, including Gao Yang, Qiu Kui, Yuan Huangwen, Liu Zhendong, and Chen Haoqiang, to participate in film and television shooting and play important roles in major drama groups. Later, according to the size of these people's influence, Chen Tongshan asked Shi Yongxin for approval, and gave the names of "Shi Xiaohu" and "Shi Xiaobao" to Liu Zhendong and Chen Haoqiang respectively.
Shaolin Dragon Tiger Leopard
Liu Zhendong co-produced the movie "Anna and Wulin" with Zheng Yijian and Yang Qianhua under the name of "Shi Xiaohu", and co-produced the movie "Magic World" with Liu Jiahui and Fan Shaohuang; Chen Haoqiang, son of Chen Tongchuan, filmed the movies "Magic World" and "Shaolin Zombies" under the name of "Shi Xiaobao". After Shi Xiaohu and Shi Xiaobao became famous in the film industry, Chen Tongshan still believed that as long as Shi Yongxin needed it and Xiaohu Xiaobao was willing, he would still support the two actors he had carefully cultivated to enter the Shaolin Temple.
Chen Tongshan's son, Shi Xiaolong, was influenced by his father and said in 2003 when he went to the United States to study alone, "As long as the Shaolin Temple needs it, no matter where it is, I will come back as quickly as possible." ”